From First to Last

By Julie Seabaugh

Thursday, May 22, 2008 | 7:10 p.m.

At the time, the early 2007 departure of From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore—and the band’s subsequent release from Capitol Records—seemed to be taken in stride. Primary songwriter and guitarist Matt Good resumed duties as the group’s original vocalist, Matt Manning came on board as bassist, and the post-hardcore foursome leapt into the studio to bang out a self-titled third effort with something to prove.

The result, while recapturing the aggressive energy of 2004’s Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count, is mostly a generic grab bag of styles, advancing none of the technical promise shown on 2006’s Heroine. The fact that Good tries to mimic Moore’s slightly adenoidal hollers could be overlooked if songs like “Tick Tick Tomorrow” weren’t deeply indebted to Story of the Year, opener “Two As One” didn’t evoke The Used and closing ballad “In Memorium in Advance” neglected to somehow ape Fuel. “Deliverance!” and “I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Profound” feature call-and-response histrionics straight out of the Screamo 101 textbook, and lyrically, the band takes an entire step backward. Though they’re desperate to propel themselves forward from their setbacks, this rush job ultimately just leaves the remaining From First to Lasters spinning their wheels.